[LAU] Q: educational websites/books on comp. audio/recording in general

[Joe Hartley]

On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:24:47 -0500
Chris Metzler <cmetzler at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> I'm just thinking that there has to be better,
> more comprehensive surveys of this stuff than Home Recording for
> Dummies or whatever.

The book that I've kept referring back to over the years has been the
Musician's Guide To Home Recording by Peter Mclan and Larry Wichman.

While it was initially written in '93 when cassette multitracks
were still very prevalent, it's been updated since (though I haven't 
seen the new edition).  A lot of that content isn't very useful (I
mean, how many people are still using DAT recorders?), but that's
not why this book is so useful.

What I liked about it was that it is written very clearly by audio
professionals that can write (rather than by writers who may know
about audio), and is laid out in very logical chapters.  Chapter 2,
for example, is Microphones.  It explains the different types of
mics, their applications, response patterns, impedance and the like.

It has chapters on how to record drums (separate chapters on physical
and electronic!), guitars, basses, acoustic pianos, synthesizers and
vocals.  It goes into mic choices, placement, EQ levels, and more.
It talks about using effects on tracks and what's effective.  it even
goes into how to effectively approach a recording session, and what
sort of notes a good engineer makes for a session.

Off topic, I like the Stax Xface in your email - I had a chance to
visit the Stax studios in Memphis a couple of years ago, and I reached
Nerdvana when I got to put my fingers on the faders of the console
used to record such things as Isaac Hayes' Shaft.

-- 
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       Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh at brainiac.com
 Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa